Xcel Energy Center Vice President and General Manager Jack Larson, right, presented Taylor Swift with a Wild hockey stick when she performed at the venue in 2011. Swift returns to the X this week and the X staff hopes to give her some cowboy boots for this visit. (Photo courtesy Xcel Energy Center)

Xcel Energy Center Vice President and General Manager Jack Larson, right, presented singer Bob Seger with a custom poster local artist Adam Turman created for the performer before Seger's concert with Kid Rock at the X in March, 2013. (Photo courtesy Xcel Energy Center)

Musical acts that headline the Xcel Energy Center are given a gift to commemorate their time in St. Paul. It's a tradition at arenas around the country. A pink polka dot caftan from sleepwear company Sophia Graydon surprised Pink, as did the Creative Kidstuff gift basket created for the performer's daughter, Willow. Courtesy photo

Musical acts that headline the Xcel Energy Center are given a gift to commemorate their time in St. Paul. It's a tradition at arenas around the country. For Bruce Springsteen, the X staff worked with the city to declare it â€œBruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Weekendâ€ and to temporarily rename the venue's cross streets as â€œSpringsteen Roadâ€ and â€œE Street.â€ They made replica street signs that fans could pose with in the lobby. Ultimately, the two signs were framed and presented to the band. Springsteen even mentioned the street names from the stage. Courtesy photo.

Musical acts that headline the Xcel Energy Center are given a gift to commemorate their time in St. Paul. It's a tradition at arenas around the country. Bob Dylan got a custom guitar strap, created by St. Paul's J.W. Hulme. Courtesy photo

It used to be easy. Musical acts that headlined Xcel Energy Center would leave town with a custom hockey jersey or maybe a hockey stick to commemorate their time in St. Paul. Giving a gift is a tradition at arenas around the country.

But then came Madonna. And Dylan and Springsteen. The three superstars headlined five shows over 10 nights last November, leading to the realization that maybe just another jersey wasn’t enough.

This month is nearly as busy. Five acts will play the X starting with folk band Mumford and Sons on Wednesday. Three of the others — Taylor Swift, Michael Buble and Nine Inch Nails — have played there before. “The Voice” star Blake Shelton plays Sept. 12.

“We had these legends here in the building, some of them repeat visitors, and we realized we needed to get more creative,” said Kelly McGrath, the arena’s director of sales and marketing. “And we wanted to start to set ourselves apart.”

For Madonna, that meant luggage emblazoned with her “MDNA” logo. Dylan got a custom guitar strap; Mark Knopfler, who opened for him, got a personalized travel bag. All three were created by St. Paul’s J.W. Hulme Co.

“With Knopfler, we were able to present it to him directly,” McGrath said. “He seemed genuinely touched at how personal it was, and that we thought of him.”

As for Springsteen, the X staff worked with the city to declare it “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Weekend” and to temporarily rename the venue’s cross streets as “Springsteen Road” and “E Street.” Fans could pose in the lobby with replica street signs, which later were framed and presented to the band. Springsteen even mentioned the street names from the stage.

When Bob Seger and Kid Rock visited in March, local artist Adam Turman created a custom poster for the concert, just one of two shows the Detroit rockers played together. Turman also created a poster for Fleetwood Mac.

In April, Bon Jovi returned to the X on the band’s fifth tour to play the venue. The staff presented the band with a framed set of advertisements from each outing.

“They asked us to ship it right to (lead singer Jon) Bon Jovi’s house,” McGrath said. “That’s always a good sign.”

Bruno Mars found himself with four pairs of handcrafted sunglasses from St. Paul’s Eyes All Over. Mars’ opener, Ellie Goulding, was given a floral tiara created by designer Julia Leisz. Soon after, Goulding tweeted a photo of herself wearing it.

A pink polka dot caftan from sleepwear company Sophia Graydon surprised Pink, as did the Creative Kidstuff gift basket created for her daughter, Willow.

Through social media, other research and plain old brainstorming, the staff comes up with gifts that are personalized and have some sort of Minnesota connection.

“For Beyonce, we really tried to get to know what she was about personally,” McGrath said. “We put together a whole basket of things. There was a little bedazzled jersey for her daughter. We looked at her Pinterest page and saw she has a real love for the written word. Because it was the ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour,’ we worked with a local letterpress to make custom stationery that said ‘Mrs. Carter.’

“We found a one-of-a-kind vintage Nelson Mandela pen (commemorating his 80th birthday) and, coincidentally, she was here on Mandela’s birthday. We also put in some cigars from Stogies on Grand. That was our way to get in with Mr. Carter (a.k.a. her husband, rapper Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter) as well.

“The whole idea,” McGrath said, “is to let the artist know we thought about them coming to the building, we appreciate it and we’d like them to come back again.”

As for this month, McGrath and the staff have been busy finding unique gifts for five very different acts:

— Canadian crooner Buble and his wife just had a son, Noah, who’ll be getting some sort of gift that says St. Paul.

— Mumford and Sons will receive custom backpacks from Duluth Pack.

— The staff is working on cowboy boots for country princess Swift and a guitar strap for Shelton.

— As for industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails, the band’s leader, Trent Reznor, will walk away with a modified guitar outfitted with a USB connection.

“We’re in the memory-creating business,” McGrath said. “If we’re inviting people to come to Minnesota and to play our building, we want them to leave with a good memory.”

Pop music critic Ross Raihala can be reached at 651-228-5553. Follow him at Twitter.com/ RossRaihala.

A Minnesota native, Ross Raihala joined the Pioneer Press as pop music critic in 2004, after stints at The Forum in Fargo, N.D., and The Olympian in Olympia, Wash. He covers local and national music as well as some theater and other arts and entertainment topics. His favorite part of his job is reviewing, and live tweeting, Twin Cities arena concerts. And, yes, he saw the same show you did.

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